Last Sunday at The Way, Pastor Laura brought a message out of 1 Kings 18. That is the chapter that tells the story of Elijah’s confrontation on Mt. Carmel. As she was speaking, God drove a few points deep into my heart. Yesterday, I wrote of the first one – God’s perfect timing.
The second thing that really registered with me on a morning when I was grumpy and out-of-sorts from the time change was “emotions did not matter. God spoke. Elijah obeyed.” She also noted that partial obedience is essentially non-obedience.
“’Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.’ So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.” [1Kings 18:1-2 HCSB]
The Scriptures have a lot to say about obedience. As I thought more about obedience, I remembered two events with Jesus in the New Testaments.
Mark 1:27: Jesus rebuked an unclean spirit in a man, and it immediately left the man. The reaction of those around him was instant. “He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him!”
Mark 4:41: The disciples were in a boat in a storm while Jesus slept. When out of fear they woke Him, He commanded the wind and rain to cease, which they immediately did. The disciples’ reaction was terror, “Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
Isn’t it interesting that unclean spirits and the natural world obey immediately when God speaks, but men and women often debate with God hoping to change His mind?
God spoke to Elijah, “so Elijah went ….” When God speaks to us, He expects us to obey. That is a decision of our wills, not our emotions.
